Sick Of Planking? Here Are Six New Alternatives To Try Out

In the beginning, there was planking.The trend of people lying face-down in strange places—or on top of strange things, like boulders—and taking a picture of themselves swept across the Internet in May.

Since then, several planking copycats have surfaced through websites, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, and even TwitPics.

Most of the new versions started in Australia, home of the original planking fad.

Others, like “Leisure Diving” and “Cone-ing,” developed here in the U.S. The original cone-ing video even made an appearance on the blog for “Tosh.0,” a TV show dedicated to showcasing—and often making fun of—Internet fads like planking.

But with the original cone-ing YouTube video hitting almost 3.7 million views, maybe it’s not something to laugh at.

Here’s a roundup of the latest planking styles, some of which might be even more absurd than the original.

#1: OWLING

Owling: Squatting on top of a desk, table, or any other horizontal surface and hanging your arms straight down by your sides.

The trend's Facebook page has 3,461 Likes, and on July 15, Hilary Duff tweeted a picture of herself owling at home in Los Angeles, as her husband Mike Comrie observes. The tweet:

'Didn't wanna hit carmageddon so I'm just owling all weekend!'

#1: OWLING

It's not just for celebrities, though. Here's a guy owling in his office cubicle.

#2: LEISURE DIVING

Leisure diving: The act of jumping into a pool, and before you hit the water, getting friends to take a picture of you while you strike a relaxed, leisurely pose. Leisuredive.com, a website dedicated to the trend, gives a nice description of everything your leisure dive should embody:

'The leisure dive speaks to a person who is extreme and yet, relaxed. Someone who--by definition--likes to jump off things and just chill. The irony is not lost on us. We think it's brilliant.'

#2: LEISURE DIVING

So how do you pull off a perfect, leisurely dive? Here's the site's guidelines:

While each diver is encouraged to express his or her own leisure persona through their own unique leisure pose, some common themes exist:

#3: PILLARING

On the Facebook page, Stonehenge was descibed as 'the Druid's monument to both pillaring and planking.'

#4: TEAPOTTING

Teapotting: Striking a teapot pose--from the children's song, with a 'handle' and 'spout'-- while standing in various situations or while in front of different objects.

According to The Warrnambool Standard, teapotting began when two Australian psychology teachers at Mortlake College created the original Facebook page in May. It now has 5,358 fans, and became popular so quickly that even Australian newscasters were seen teapotting on TV.

#5: CONE-ING

Cone-ing: Perhaps the most interactive new version of planking, this is when:

'Participants order an ice cream cone at a fast food drive-through. When they are handed the ice cream by the server, they grab it by the ice cream end instead of the cone, often leaving the drive-though attendant shocked and bewildered (via KnowYourMeme).'

The trend exploded when YouTube user AlkiStevens uploaded a video titled 'CONE-ING IS THE NEW PLANKING!!!,' which eventually racked up nearly 3.7 million views.

#5: CONE-ING

If you're wondering how exactly cone-ing works, check out the video below:

#6: BALLING

Balling: The act of curling yourself into a ball and squatting on top of various objects.

This might be the least developed of the new planking trends--with Facebook fans numbering in the hundreds, not thousands--but it has still gained some buzz in Australia since it started in late May. It evolved into a movement after some students at Campbelltown TAFE posted pictures of themselves balling on their desks, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

But in case you're feeling nostalgic for planking, check out these pictures of the global trend.